Words
by Delving
Summary: With his best friend and partner bleeding out while he is concussed and handcuffed to a pipe, Ryan wonders how on earth they are going to get out of this one. NOW COMPLETE, rated T for canon language.
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: I do not own_ Castle _or the original characters belonging to the series._  
**

* * *

 **PART ONE**

* * *

 _A deafening gunshot made Ryan draw his piece and spin around. "Javi!" he called out, creeping back down the hall. Obviously, he and his partner had missed something._

 _When the older detective made no answer, Ryan's heart sank. He took deep, silent breaths as he walked, quietly as his shoes would allow. He came to the room he'd left Esposito in. Peering around the door frame, he saw Esposito's body crumbled in the middle of the floor, a pool of dark blood staining the dirty carpet under him. Ryan resisted the initial urge to rush into the room. That would do nothing to help his fallen brother. No, he had to be levelheaded. But his gaze lingered a few moments more on Javier before he forced it up to scan the room. But he didn't see anything, because a sudden, sharp pain struck the base of his skull, and everything went blank._

* * *

Kevin opened his eyes. It hurt, the light, and he squinted, blinking rapidly, trying to let his eyes adjust. The pain didn't go away though, and he realized it wasn't going to. The pain stemmed from the back of his head, crawling up his skull and brain. He wished he hadn't woken up at all. With a groan and some effort, he lifted his chin from his chest. His memories were muddled and confused, but questions poked at him, demanding attention. _Where am I? What happened? Why does my head hurt? Where's Javi?_ The last question caught his attention. Panic gripped him, and he jolted to stand up. Something stopped him. Metal bit painfully into his wrists. He suddenly realized where caught behind him, securing him to a tall, round, skinny pole. He looked back and realized it was a pipe extending up and turning at the top to go into the wall. It was a water pipe, like you'd find in a basement.

"What the—" he breathed, tugging again, uselessly, at his restraints.

"Kevin!"

Esposito's voice made Ryan turn his head too fast. The room spun and turned on its end. Ryan had to close his eyes tight to make it stop. He made himself speak. "Javi, where are you? Are you okay?"

"If by 'okay' you mean 'shot through the shoulder,' then yeah, I'm just peachy."

Ryan smiled, but it was only out of relief. If Javier was still able to make snarky comments, then he couldn't be too bad off. "You were shot. I remember. I saw you in the room, on the ground. But before I could get to you, someone knocked me out."

"And then they tossed the both of us in this dank basement," Javier said, finishing the piece of the story Ryan didn't have.

With a sickening turn of his stomach, Ryan managed to open his eyes again. He resumed his search for his partner, only this time, much more slowly. He found him immediately. Esposito was sitting up against the wall beside him, his left hand clinging to his right shoulder, blood stains all over his hands and shirt. He looked pale, and much weaker than his voice had indicated. His whole body looked slumped and lethargic.

"How you holding up?" Ryan asked weakly.

"What?" Esposito asked.

Ryan repeated with more precision. "How are you holding up?"

"I'll live," Esposito replied. " _You_ look like hell."

"Likewise," Ryan mumbled with a grin. He closed his eyes again, resting his head against the pipe. "How long've we been down here?" It felt like his tongue didn't want to form the words in his mouth, and it was a struggle to put a sentence together. Ryan knew it was a symptom of a bad concussion, but at least he wasn't bleeding out like Esposito. His partner was the one he was worried about.

"A couple hours, more or less," Esposito replied. "I was sure Beckett and Castle would've found us by now."

"Yeah, well," Ryan said, "we don't know what our perp did to cover up his tracks. Could've thrown them off somehow." Sleep sounded heavenly right about now as his head nodded forward.

"Ryan," Esposito said loudly.

He might as well have smacked Ryan over the head again for all the pain he caused. "What the hell, Javi," Ryan growled, "Could you quiet down?"

"You were about to fall asleep, bro. You can't do that."

Ryan frowned. "I know in theory I shouldn't but…"

"But nothing," Esposito said, "We have to keep each other from passing out, because I'm not feeling too hot myself. We need to come up with a plan to get out of here."

"In case you didn't notice," Ryan muttered, "I'm handcuffed to a pipe."

"Yeah, I noticed. Doesn't give you a pass to sleep on the job, though."

"Fine," Ryan agreed. "Where do we start?"

"We start with what we know."

"And what do we know?"

Esposito lifted his chin to indicate the opposite side of the room. "The door over there, it's dead bolted."

"That's helpful." Ryan retorted.

Esposito smirked humorlessly. "Don't be funny, Ryan. We don't have time for that."

"We got plenty of time," Ryan said. "'Cause there's no way we're getting out of here until Castle and Beckett show up."

"I don't like that," Esposito said. "We don't know when that will be. And, bro," he said, his voice dropping to a disheartened mutter, "I'm bleeding out bad."

Ryan looked at his partner again, trying to focus his thoughts. They were muddied, even now, like one of Sarah Grace's finger paintings. All brown where the paint had been over mixed with edges of random colors. He squinted. "Let me see it."

Gingerly, Esposito lifted his hand. He had managed, apparently, while Ryan was still unconscious, to unbutton and take off the side of his shirt the wound was on. Peeling the shirt back, he revealed an angry, red wound crudely staining his white undershirt black and burgundy with dried and fresh blood. "There's an exit wound too," Esposito said.

"I thought you said you'll 'live,'" Ryan said.

"I lied," Esposito shot back. He rolled his eyes. "Geez, Kev, you really are out of it."

He couldn't deny it, so he didn't respond to the comment. "What do we do, Javi? I can't move, you can't move…"

"We need to stay positive," Esposito decided.

Kevin thought a moment, but his brain refused to comply. "How?"

"We need to think of things to keep us going. To keep ourselves occupied," Esposito said. "Tell each other stories. You start."

"Why me?"

"'Cause I don't have any. Now go."

"What do you want me to tell a story about?"

"I don't care. Anything. So long as it doesn't have to do with shootings, dead guys, or being handcuffed to a pipe."

Ryan laughed. "Darn. Now that's all I can think of."

"Fine. Then let's play a word game," Esposito said. "I'll say a word, and you say the first word that pops into your head. Then I'll say what I think of when you say that word, and so on."

"Why do you got to have so many rules?" Ryan asked sluggishly.

"Basement," Esposito said.

Ryan's mouth popped a word before his brain could. "Monopoly."

"What? Why Monopoly?" Esposito asked.

"Because," Ryan said, "when I was a kid, my sisters and I would play Monopoly in the basement of our apartment building. It was like our secret hideout or something. I dunno what we were thinking. Kind of creeps me out now."

"That's 'cause you're a homicide detective now," Esposito said. "That can make anything creepy."

Ryan chuckled. "True. What's your word?"

"Win. Because I'm the king of Monopoly."

"No, sir!" Ryan protested.

"Oh, and I suppose you think you could beat me? I've never lost a game."

Ryan snorted. "Liar. That's my word: Liar."

"Cheater."

"You," shot Ryan.

"Me?!"

"Now we agree on something," Ryan said with a smug grin.

Esposito rolled his eyes. "We're starting over. This time, you give the first word."

"Marriage," Ryan said immediately. When Esposito hesitated, he added, "First word that comes to mind, Javi! Follow the rules, cheater."

"That was a trick word," Esposito retorted.

"You told me to start, so I started. What was the first word that popped into your head, huh? C'mon, quit cheating like you're playing Monopoly."

"This is a stupid game," Esposito decided, "I'm done."

"Was your word Lanie?" Ryan pressed.

"Knock it off, Ryan," Esposito muttered. He adjusted himself, hissing through clenched teeth as he moved his shoulder.

"Hurt pretty bad, huh?" Ryan asked.

Esposito regarded him coldly. "You think?"

Ryan shrugged. "Never been shot before. I wouldn't know. But, hey, let's look on the bright side."

"That being?"

"I still don't know what it feels like to be shot." Ryan smiled.

Esposito grinned irritably. "Jerk."

"C'mon," Ryan protested, "I thought we were trying to think positive."

"Well, if you are trying to come off as positively annoying, you're sure as hell pulling it off," Esposito said with another moan of discomfort. He looked up at the tiny window over his head. It was just big enough to let a shaft of light in and dimly light the room. "Where are they? They should be here by now," Esposito muttered. "We told them where we were going, we did everything right. Why aren't they here?"

Ryan sighed. "You know how many times we've gotten Beckett and Castle out just in the nick of time? Just when they were giving up hope?"

Esposito nodded.

"This is just like that," Ryan said, leaning his head back against the pipe. "Just be happy we're not freezing to death, or being sized up by a tiger, ya know?" His partner smirked, closing his eyes and resting it against the wall. Ryan watched him for a few minutes until he thought Esposito looked too comfortable. "You still with me, Javi?"

"Yeah," Esposito said vaguely.

"Are we done with that stupid word game?" Ryan asked.

Esposito muttered something under his breath Ryan couldn't hear.

"Sarah Grace," Ryan said, trying to think of an innocent topic, "she's getting so old. When's the last time you saw her, Javi?"

"Last week, when you and Jenny invited Lanie and I over for dinner," Esposito said.

"Oh, right." Ryan fell silent again. He couldn't think of anything to talk about to take their minds off of what was happening. "Remember the night Sarah Grace was born? This isn't our first time escaping within an inch of our lives, you know?"

"But this time," Esposito said, his voice becoming more and more faint, "no one knows where we are. I'm losing too much blood, bro. I can't…"

"That's what blood banks are for," Ryan interrupted. "When you get to the hospital, they'll fill you back up, ya know?"

Esposito's head lulled forward, and Ryan cried out, "Now who's sleeping on the job, huh? C'mon, Javi, don't leave me alone."

No reply. Esposito didn't move. Ryan watched him intently, and sighed in relief when he saw Esposito's chest shudder in a shallow breath. He pulled against his cuffs one more time, testing them, as though there would be any chance. "C'mon, Javi," he said, "please. Just stay awake a little longer. Please."

"I'm so cold," Esposito muttered, lifting his head.

"It's chilly in here," Ryan lied. "But at least the room's not on fire, huh?" He laughed, but it was shrill and nervous. "I'll bet you that Beckett's right outside and she and Castle will come bursting in here."

Esposito didn't answer. He just stared at Ryan listlessly, as though it was all he could do to keep his eyes open. Ryan bent his head, trying to make eye contact. "Hey, you wanna go get a drink at the Old Haunt after this? I'll buy."

"Lanie…" Esposito breathed.

"She must be worried sick about you, man," Ryan prompted, "You two've got a future ahead of you. Jenny said she'll set a date for your guys if you two don't decide on your own soon."

Esposito's eyes slid shut.

"C'mon, Javi, no," pleaded Ryan. How could his friend be fading so fast? It wasn't very long ago he was pestering Ryan not to fall asleep with his concussion. "We're gonna get out of this, Javi," Ryan said, "you'll be in a hospital bed pining for desk work by this time tomorrow night." He laughed.

Esposito made no reply, but Ryan saw him shuddering. Perspiration shone on his partner's face, and his breathing was becoming louder and ragged.

"Where are you, Beckett," Ryan whispered.

* * *

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

"Javier," Ryan muttered, "Javi. C'mon, man. Wake up. You gotta wake up…"

His throat hurt from talking for hours, trying to rouse Esposito back to consciousness. Maybe it hadn't been hours, but a long time had passed. The room was dark now, and Ryan was starting to feel stiff and cold. He'd managed to stand up and yell for awhile, in hopes that a neighbor might hear, might turn in suspicious noises coming from the abandoned house.

But nothing had happened. Everything was quiet except for Ryan, talking like he couldn't shut-up. He talked about everything and anything that came to mind, letting the words tumble from his lips without consideration. He talked about when he and Jenny first met, his first few years on the job, about Sarah Grace's first word being 'da.'

"Ya wanna hear a funny story?" Ryan asked. "When I first moved to homicide, and they assigned us as partners…I was scared. I mean, on the surface, you're actually terrifying, especially to a little guy like me." Ryan laughed. "Ex-military, streetwise, tough-as-nails…I was sure wouldn't survive the first week, and I'd be crawling back to the narcs division. But you're actually nothing like you seem. I mean, sure you are everything I thought you were, but in a different way. A good way. You'd love to think I look up to you, wouldn't you?" Ryan adjusted himself, shifting to get more comfortable. "Well, I do. You and Beckett are the best homicide detectives I've ever met. Granted I haven't met a lot, but, you have a reputation. And I'm just the research guy, aren't I? I'm just the geek."

Suddenly, a beam of light peered through the window. Ryan sat upright, staring at it. "Down here!" he shouted. "Help! Help us!" The light disappeared, but Ryan kept calling at the top of his lungs. He struggled to stand. "Down here! Help! Please, help us!"

"Ryan!" Beckett called through the door, "Is that you?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Ryan called back. He lowered his voice to say to Esposito, "They found us. I told you they'd find us, huh? We're getting out of here."

The dead bolted door was breached within a few minutes, and the overhead light turned on. Ryan bent his head against the brilliant and painful glare. "Get to Javier, he's been shot," he said blindly to the footsteps that thundered down the steps into the basement. His legs felt like melted jello, and he sank to the ground, breathing heavily. All he wanted to do was pass out, close his eyes and fall asleep for hours. But he lifted his head enough to see Beckett rushing to Esposito's side. She was talking, but he couldn't hear him over the sound of Castle on his phone.

"We need an ambulance," he was saying. Ryan tried to focus on the rest of the conversation, but his sluggish mind couldn't keep up with the rapid voice of the writer. Now that he wasn't the only one worrying about his partner, he could finally give in to the exhaustion he'd worked up.

"Beckett, I need keys for the handcuffs," Castle said. "Ryan, can you hear me, buddy?"

Ryan nodded, looking up. The shadow Castle's form cast made it possible for him to open his eyes. "I'm fine. Really. Just a headache. How's Javi?"

"Beckett's with him."

Castle moved behind Ryan, and Ryan felt the handcuffs come off his wrists. He drew his arms forward, his shoulders protesting stiffly. Castle helped him sit up straight.

"Ooh," Castle hissed, "you've got a nice head wound back here."

Ryan laughed faintly. "Feels great too. Is Javi okay?"

The wailing of sirens interrupted any answer Castle might have given. The next thing Ryan knew, he was laying on a stretcher being strapped down. He protested that he was fine. Just a little head wound. But nobody believed him. He didn't believe himself. However, he just wanted to know if Esposito was alright.

If he was still alive.

* * *

"Kevin, you've got visitors," the nurse said.

Ryan opened his eyes. He felt…good. Too good. Unnaturally good. He looked down at his arm and saw an IV. The other arm had a small, adhesive bandage. Both wrists looked red and raw from the cuffs, but a shiny salve covered the wounds. He looked up at the nurse for the first time. "What?" he asked.

"Your wife and daughter are here to see you," the nurse said, smiling.

Jenny walked into the room, two-year-old Sarah Grace in her arms.

"Daddy!" Sarah Grace cried happily.

"Hi, baby," Ryan said softly, reaching out to touch his little girl's hand.

Jenny put Sarah Grace on the bed beside him, then leaned down and kissed Ryan. "I was so worried about you," she whispered.

"I'm okay," Ryan said, smiling.

Sarah Grace examined her father's arm latched around her waist. She touched his wrist. "Owie, Daddy?" she asked sympathetically.

"Yeah, owie," Ryan agreed.

Sarah Grace touched the bandage. "Two owies!" she announced to her mother.

"I know. Daddy got hurt, huh," Jenny said, brushing Sarah Grace's hair with her fingers. "But the doctors are going to make him all better."

"When can we go home?" Ryan asked.

Jenny frowned. "They said they're going to keep you overnight for observation. You have a concussion, some blood loss, and you're a little dehydrated."

"It's not that bad," Ryan protested.

"You're staying as long as they tell you to," Jenny told him firmly.

Ryan nodded. "Sure, sweetie," he agreed with a smile.

Then he remembered. All the good feelings that had clouded the pain in his mind dispersed, and he tried to sit up. "Javier! Where's Javi? Is he alright?"

Jenny put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back. "He's…fine, Kevin. I don't know all the details, but Kate said that he should be okay."

Ryan wondered if his wife knew more than she was telling, but he didn't press. He knew he could ask Beckett when she came in to take his statement.

Jenny's phone chirped and she looked at it. "My mom is here to pick up Sarah Grace," she said.

"Aw, honey," Ryan said, "you don't have to stay here all night. Go home. I'll be fine."

"I'm not going anywhere," Jenny said. She leaned down to look at Sarah Grace, "Say night night to Daddy. You're gonna go with Grammy."

"Night night," Sarah Grace said, falling on top of Ryan to give him a hug.

He bent his head up to kiss the toddler's golden crown. "Night night, baby girl. I'll see you tomorrow. Have fun at Grammy's."

Moments after his family left the room, Beckett and Castle entered. Beckett had a notebook dangling loosely in her left hand. "How're feeling, Kev?" she asked quietly.

"I'm fine," Ryan said. "How's Javi?"

Beckett frowned. "He's in bad shape. Lost quite a bit of blood. However, the doctors are optimistic. He won't be working cases again any time soon, but, he'll be okay, with time."

Ryan sighed. "I should have been more careful. I was so focused on Javi when I saw he'd been shot, I didn't even pay attention to the room behind me."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Beckett asked, lifting her notebook and putting the tip of her pen to the paper.

"Well, we went to that abandoned house after we found the lead. It seemed empty, but we were checking all the rooms. After our initial search, we split up to look anything that might give evidence to someone having holed up there. I was down the hall when I heard the gunshot. I went back, found Javier in the bedroom, shot," Ryan paused, taking another deep breath. "I was about to go in the room, had my gun drawn, and that's when I got hit from behind. I don't remember anything after that until I woke up in the basement with Javier."

"Well," Beckett said, "you'll be happy to know we caught the suspect, and that he confessed to everything…after a little persuasion."

"That's too easy," Ryan said.

Beckett shook her head and shrugged. "That's what I thought, so I pressed him a little harder, and he gave up the name of the real murderer, along with the location of you and Espo when the two of you went missing."

"Well," Ryan said, "I'm just glad you guys found us when you did. Javi wouldn't have lasted much longer."

Beckett reached out and squeezed Ryan's wrist. "Me too," she said. "But don't downplay your injuries."

"Yeah," Castle agreed, speaking up for the first time, "You're concussion is nothing to sneeze at."

Ryan smirked. "I'll remember that," he said.

"Until the doctors give you the green light, don't even think about leaving this bed," Beckett added seriously.

"Now you're starting to sound like Jenny," Ryan sighed.

Beckett smiled. "Great minds think alike."

The two of them waited until Jenny returned, and then said goodnight.

* * *

"Hey, Javi," Ryan said, coming into the hospital room.

Esposito didn't open his eyes. "Hey, bro," he muttered.

"I, uh, came to see how you were doing," Ryan said. "They just let me out of my room, otherwise I would've been here sooner…"

"You letting those nurses boss you around?" Esposito asked with a smirk.

Ryan chuckled. "Ah, no. Jenny, actually. She's been watching me like a hawk."

"Keeping you out of trouble while I'm out of service," Esposito said.

"Shut up," Ryan said, laughing. He sat down in the chair by the bed and leaned forward, propping his forearms on his knees. He thought for a few seconds before he asked, "Do you remember much…about what happened?"

"Sure," Esposito said, "Probably more than you do."

"Yeah, right. You were the one who ended up 'sleeping on the job,' man," Ryan protested.

"Just because I wasn't talking doesn't mean I wasn't listening, bro," Esposito said, opening his eyes to meet the gaze of his companion.

Ryan furrowed his brow. "What's that supposed to mean."

"It means that you have a talking problem," Esposito said with a grin. "You told me your entire family history, and then Jenny's. Dude, how the hell did you memorize all that, seriously?"

Ryan's face burned. He hesitated, then asked, "What else did you hear?"

Esposito shrugged awkwardly with one shoulder. "I kinda tuned you out after a while."

"Oh." Ryan looked down at his hands.

"Why?" Esposito asked, "Did you say something worth hearing that I missed?"

"Nah," Ryan said, looking up with a grin. "Mostly concussed babbling, like you said. I don't remember most of what I carried on about myself."

"Okay, sure," Esposito said, unconvinced. He closed his eyes again. "By the way," he said after a couple minutes, "you're not such a bad detective yourself…lot more than 'just a research guy,' bro. Just FYI."

Ryan winced. "Oh. You heard that part, huh?"

"You were really scared of me, huh?" asked Esposito with a grin.

Ryan scoffed, "No, man. I told you, I was concussed. I didn't mean half of what I was said."

Esposito smiled, and shifting to make himself more comfortable. "Uh, huh," he said, "sure. You just keep telling yourself that."

* * *

END


End file.
